41: Chapter 41 The tower is lying, but I'll climb it anyway.

The light pillar of the Seventh Floor Trial slowly dissipated. The blinding white light receded, revealing a vast, unsettlingly empty circular platform.

There were no enemies, no traps, only dead silence.

Chen Fan surveyed his surroundings vigilantly, the lingering bell clutched in his palm, feeling as cold and inert as a common piece of iron.

Just as he thought this floor was some sort of rest area, the air began to ripple like water waves.

Three illusory figures materialized from the distorted air, their outlines shifting from blurry to distinct.

There was Old Horse Head, his signature bulbous nose wrinkled, his turbid eyes filled with disappointment and reproach.

There was Broken Gong, his namesake Broken Gong discarded at his feet. The simple, honest smile was gone from his face, replaced only by a numb accusation.

Finally, there was Su Shuang. Her white dress was stained with blood, tears streaked across her exquisitely beautiful face, and her gaze was vacant and sorrowful.

"You couldn't save us..." Old Horse Head spoke first, his voice carrying the chill of the netherworld.

"You promised you'd take us out..." Broken Gong's voice was no longer loud; instead, it sounded like a leaky bellows, filled with despair.

"You're just a bricklayer, Chen Fan," Su Shuang's phantom whispered. Every word was like a steel needle, piercing Chen Fan's most vulnerable nerves. "Why did you ever think you could change fate?"

The three voices converged into a single curse, echoing above the platform: "You're just a bricklayer... You couldn't save us..."

Chen Fan's fists clenched abruptly, his knuckles turning white from the intense pressure.

He tried to activate the lingering bell in his palm, intending to use its all-purifying chime to dispel this heartbreaking illusion, but the lingering bell remained unresponsive, as if it were dead.

"No... It's not like this!" he roared, his eyes turning red.

Just then, Su Shuang's phantom slumped, falling backward silently, as if about to plunge into an endless abyss.

"No!"

In that instant, Chen Fan's reason was completely torn apart.

He forgot this was an illusion, forgot everything. His body lunged forward purely on instinct, attempting to grasp the figure that was about to vanish.

However, an invisible wall of fire erupted before him with a roar, and the scorching blast of air violently flung him back!

He flew backward and crashed heavily onto the platform's cold floor.

More terrifyingly, the flame seemed to penetrate his flesh, burning directly upon his soul.

The faint crack deep within his soul transmitted a heart-wrenching, agonizing pain, a thousand times more painful than any physical injury.

The cold system prompt sounded in his mind, devoid of emotion:

[Warning: Heart Fire Erosion has been activated. Mental Defense greatly weakened. All Attribute Defense Efficiency -50%!]

The intense pain nearly caused him to faint, yet the questioning voices grew clearer, clinging to him like maggots on bone, gnawing at his will.

Had he lost? Was he truly... just a useless bricklayer?

As the darkness of despair was about to consume him, a rough, hoarse voice exploded deep within his memory.

It was what Broken Gong had shouted to him when he struck the final gong at the bottom of the mine shaft:

"Chen Fan! For me... for me, see the world outside!"

The world outside...

Chen Fan lay on the ground, panting heavily, his body convulsing from the intense pain.

He slowly closed his eyes, allowing the bone-piercing pain to wash over his soul.

When he opened them again, the confusion and agony in his eyes had faded, replaced by a calm bordering on madness.

He looked at the still chattering phantoms, suddenly pulling back his lips to reveal a blood-stained, ferocious smile.

"Old fellow, did you see that?" he murmured softly, as if speaking to a distant friend. "I'm... outside right now!"

The moment his words fell, he abruptly raised his right fist. Without hesitation, putting all his strength into it, he slammed it fiercely into his own chest!

"Bang!"

A dull thud echoed, like a drumbeat!

Agony coursed through his entire body, far surpassing the pain of his soul being burned just moments before.

A mouthful of blood spewed out of him, splashing onto the cold platform.

But this ultimate pain, self-inflicted, acted like a heavy hammer, instantly shattering the false pain manufactured by the illusion!

"Crack--"

A crisp breaking sound rang out. The phantoms of Old Horse Head, Broken Gong, and Su Shuang showed expressions of shock, then fractured inch by inch like a mirror surface, dissolving into specks of light that scattered away.

The world became quiet.

At that very moment, the lingering bell in his palm, which had been dormant for so long, seemed to be awakened by this resolute will, suddenly erupting with an unprecedented ringing!

"Buzz--!"

Golden sound waves swept across the entire platform like raging tides, centered on him!

Wherever they passed, the last remnants of illusory energy in the air were completely purified.

The Tower Spirit's eternally unchanging mechanical voice showed obvious stuttering and astonishment for the first time:

[Heart Fire... Purification... Program... Fail...?

Detecting player forcibly interrupting mental erosion via unknown method... Judging... Passed.]

Chen Fan braced himself on the ground and stood up unsteadily.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. A burning pain radiated from his chest, but he laughed—a laugh of pure exhilaration.

"You use false light to deceive people," he looked up and spoke hoarsely to the empty dome. "But I... truly crawled out from underground, feeling my way through the dark!"

The light gate leading to the Eighth Floor burst open before him.

Stepping onto the Eighth Floor, the scene changed again.

It was a tribunal forged from black iron. High walls surrounded him, covered in intricate and cold patterns.

Suspended in the air was an enormous, ancient iron scale. One end was engraved with "Merit" and the other with "Demerit," waiting silently.

Over a dozen figures clad in black robes, wielding long blades wreathed in flames, emerged from the shadows.

They had no faces; only a flickering white flame resided beneath their hoods.

[Eighth Floor Trial: Judgment of Merit and Demerit.]

[Trial Objective: Kill all 'Purifying Fire Judges'.]

Chen Fan wasted no words. Gripping the lingering bell, he charged straight ahead.

These Purifying Fire Judges were formidable, coordinating seamlessly. Every strike carried purifying flames capable of directly burning the soul.

But he had just crawled out of the purgatory of Heart Fire, granting him astonishing resistance to such attacks.

"Clang!"

He took a blow on his arm, sparks flying. It only felt slightly warm.

He countered with a punch. The force of the blow, wrapped in the sound of the bell, directly caved in a Judge's chest. The white flame at its core instantly extinguished.

The Judge dissolved into black smoke.

Simultaneously, the giant iron scale in the sky made a light 'clack' sound, and a clear golden mark descended onto the side marked "Merit."

A majestic voice echoed throughout the space: "Merit and Demerit recorded."

Chen Fan's gaze sharpened, and he plunged back into the fight.

His movement speed increased, and his punches grew heavier.

Although the Judges were troublesome, they fell one by one under his stormy assault.

The second, the third, the fourth, the fifth...

With every kill, a mark dropped onto the iron scale in the sky.

But just after he killed the fifth Judge, a system prompt caused his actions to falter.

[Killing 'Purifying Fire Judge', Experience Gained x 0.5.]

Experience halved? Why?

An alarm blared in Chen Fan's mind. He looked up abruptly, staring intently at the iron scale above.

He had been too focused on the battle earlier to look closely.

Now that he looked clearly, his pupils contracted sharply!

Right before his eyes, the last of the five golden marks on the side representing "Merit" was slowly fading, as if being quietly erased by an invisible hand!

In an instant, the five marks became four.

His hard-won kills had been forcibly erased by one-tenth! No, by two-tenths!

He suddenly realized that the experience he had gained from the start was already reduced!

This so-called "Judgment of Merit and Demerit" was nothing more than a complete sham!

As expected, the Tower Spirit's cold voice sounded at the appropriate time, filled with mockery:

[Scoring System Correction... Player [Chen Fan]'s current clear progress is 17% behind the top three ranked players.

Please keep up the effort.]

Behind?

Chen Fan looked at the hypocritical iron scale, then at the scorch marks on his body from taking direct hits, and laughed in extreme anger.

"Fine," he licked his dry lips, a hint of insane malice flashing in his eyes. "You are in charge of scoring, right? Then I... will directly change the rules!"

Before his voice faded, he ignored the remaining Judges. He suddenly exerted force with both legs, launching himself skyward like a cannonball, his target the huge iron scale suspended in the air!

Ninth Floor.

When Chen Fan burst out of the light gate, he was met by endless enemies.

Energy forms, puppets, and monsters of various shapes surged in like a tide from all directions, dense and countless as far as the eye could see.

This was a pure war of attrition, testing endurance and limits.

Chen Fan no longer knew how long he had been fighting. He only knew that his internal energy reserves were long depleted. Every punch felt like dragging a mountain, and every breath carried the taste of blood.

He leaned against a broken stone pillar, gasping violently, his body covered in wounds.

The corpses of monsters piled up around him like mountains, but more enemies continued to swarm forward.

He was truly reaching his limit.

The lingering bell in his palm seemed to sense its master's fatigue, beginning to vibrate faintly, the ancient patterns on its surface flickering on and off.

Just as Chen Fan thought he was about to be swallowed by this endless tide of monsters, a blinding red light flashed before his eyes without warning!

[Warning! Extremely strong Rule Pressure detected!]

[Warning! Player Emotional Resonance has exceeded the safety threshold!]

[Judging... Judgment passed!]

[Special Talent — Rule Critical Hit · Triggered!]

In an instant, an indescribable power poured back into Chen Fan's body from the lingering bell, instantly coursing through his limbs and bones!

His dried-up energy pool was instantly refilled, even breaking past its original limits!

Simultaneously, the Tower Spirit's mechanical voice, unchanged for ten thousand years, showed severe distortion and interference for the first time, as if the signal was heavily jammed:

[Zzz... Zzz... Warning!

Logical error!

Player [Chen Fan]'s identity determination shows a serious deviation... Zzz... Re-determining... Determination result... Tower Guardian... BOSS!]

[Experience Settlement Mode forcibly switched to — 'Leader Level'!]

Chen Fan violently opened his eyes, golden light shooting out!

He could clearly feel that a fundamental link between him and this tower had been forcibly altered!

He threw out a punch. Golden sound waves spread out, instantly turning a large swath of monsters before him into dust.

Immediately after, an unprecedentedly thick column of experience light descended from the sky, smashing heavily onto him!

[Killing 'Tower Servant' x 15, Gained 15000 Experience Points!]

The experience bar surged madly at a visible rate!

Ten times the normal amount!

"Rumble--!"

The entire Ninth Floor, and even the entire Tower of Ascension, shook violently due to this unprecedented logical chaos!

In an unknown, dark corner of the Ninth Floor, a Shadow Crow, entirely shrouded in a black robe with only a pair of scarlet eyes visible, was rapidly scribbling in an ancient book with a feather pen.

At this moment, he suddenly looked up, his pen tip slashing across the page in shock.

"Damn it! The target has caused a logical error in the Tower's determination! He... he turned himself into a 'Monster'!".

At the end of the Ninth Floor was a final staircase emitting white light, leading to the unknown.

A burly man wielding a giant blade was already waiting there.

He was the player who ranked first in the previous round, 'Brother Dao'.

Currently, his entire body was entwined with crimson chains condensed from pure fighting intent, his killing aura soaring, clearly having pushed his state to the absolute maximum.

He watched Chen Fan, covered in blood and exuding a killing aura more like a BOSS than himself, walk step by step. A cold sneer curled on his lips.

"A nobody who climbed up by exploiting system loopholes," Brother Dao rested the giant blade on his shoulder, his scarlet eyes locking onto Chen Fan. "Do you think you are worthy of competing with me for the final crown?"

Chen Fan casually wiped the blood from his lips, revealing a grim smile.

He could feel the lingering bell in his palm was hotter than ever, as if something was about to awaken within it.

"I didn't rely on the system," he spoke calmly. His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached Brother Dao's ears. "I relied on the people who couldn't finish this path... they paved the way for me."

As his words faded, he stopped looking at Brother Dao and stepped directly onto the final staircase leading to the Tenth Floor.

The instant his foot touched the first step, a faint whisper, seemingly from another dimension, quietly sounded from the highest point of the Tower.

It was not the Tower Spirit's cold mechanical voice, but an older, deeper existence.

"...It is evolving."

Meanwhile, in the Judgment Court of the Eighth Floor, forgotten by Chen Fan, the giant iron scale made a soft 'creak'.

The balance representing "Merit" and "Demerit" began to slowly, yet with immense determination, tilt quietly toward the side representing darkness and chaos.